Copyright@ Adrian Gheorghe Cirlea

NOTE: Copyright on my books and articles on this website is just a method to prevent the modification of the texts. Actually, I do not believe in things like "intellectual property" in matters related with religion, this is why permission to print and distribute what I write will be given upon request if you are a sincere Buddhist follower.

Monday, May 14, 2018

Many people ask me about priest ordination in Jodo Shinshu, so I
thought to post this article to help them get some information, and also
to express some of my own views on this matter.

As far as I know, in our Jodo Shinshu school (Nishi Hongwanji
branch) a tokudo (priest ordination) candidate must have two recommendation
letters from other Jodo Shinshu priests with a higher rank, but sometimes, even
one recommendation is enough from one’s local priest to make one join a tokudo
session for foreigners, as the other recommendation will be easier to get if
one has earned the trust of a priest with a good connection in the system.
These tokudo sessions for foreigners are usually organized from time to time
(not at fixed intervals) by Hongwanji International Center, which deals with
all matters related with ordination for non-japanese candidates. Their website
is this, http://international.hongwanji.or.jpYou can also access
the official page of our school here, http://www.hongwanji.or.jp/english

The candidate must
spend 15 days in some kind of retreat at a facility near the main temple (Nishi
Hongwanji) of our tradition, in Kyoto. There he (or she) is examined and
attains various courses on doctrine and ritual, after which he receives a
tonsure and the actual ordination from the Go Monshu sama - the Patriarch of
our main temple and leader of Nishi Hongwanji branch.

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

"Rennyo's
criticism of divergent views and beliefs reached into the interior of
Hongwanji. In particular, in a letter
dated the ninth month of 1473 (Bunmei 5), he severely admonishes the laziness
of 'a certain young person' who was holding himself out as a member of the
'first family of the Hongwanji in Kyoto'.
The content of the letter indicates that this person was likely one of Rennyo's
sons who had been assigned to a temple in Kaga. The young man would always
declare to others,

'I understand about the settled mind (anjin). I
recite the nembutsu often. Also, I have never performed anything like the
miscelaneous practices, nor worshipped other Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. I am, in
particular, a member of the first family of Kyoto. Everyday I eat whatever I want to eat
and if then feel like sleeping, I can lie back and sleep whenever and for as
long as I like. No one can ever complain. I
am not especially concerned about the Buddha-Dharma. Besides, I can learn
about it through listening to what others say about any temple matter. As for
the benevolence of the Master Shinran, I only think about it from time to
time.'

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

A Standard of Shinshu
Faith by Dr Ryosetsu Fujiwara was first published in 1963 by the Buddhist
Churches of America and it contains a digest of the Anjin Rondai - Topics for Discussions on Faith, which is the
doctrinal standard of the Nishi Hongwanji branch of Jodo Shinshu school. As the author himself
said in the first part of the book:

"For the better
understanding of Shinshu and for the prevention of unorthodox faith, the Nishi
Hongwanji selected a certain number of special topics for discussion of
Doctrine and of Faith. The latter, including 30 topics, is called 'Anjin
Rondai' or 'Topics for Discussion on Faith.' The original is not so easy to
understand because of its classical terminology and expressions. So the writer
has tried to sum up the main points of these topics and rearranged them with
the hope that it would become a helpful guide for those voluntarily working for
the spreading of Shinshu in the West".

As this book is now out of print, I thought that it is very
important to make it available online to
readers, especially in our difficult times when so many divergences from the
Jodo Shinshu teachings prevail in the international sangha.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

I welcome with great joy and hope the
appointment of our new Go Monshu-sama, Shaku Sennyo (Kojun Ohtani). May he act as a true
"Guardian of the Gate", and watch over the spreading of Amida Dharma
in the spirit of Tannisho:

"Let there be not the slightest distortion of the
teaching of Other Power with words of an understanding based on personal views."

Saturday, June 15, 2013

In many articles on this website, in my books or on my Facebook
pages I presented to you many explanations and passages from the sacred texts
in which it is clearly stated that the Pure Land of Amida Buddha is to be
attained after death and that it is not to be found “here and now”, or in “one’s
mind”, as some nowadays deluded scholars and priests in the international Jodo Shinshu sangha claim.

In this short post I intend to show to you that our Jodo Shinshu
Hongwanji-ha (Nishi Hongwanji) religious organisation does NOT officially
sustain the aberrant views of those scholars and priests. The following two
passages are from an official document of our school, Jodo Shinshu Kyosho (The
Essential of Jodo Shinshu) and from a statement made by the former Monshu
(Patriarch/Leader) of Hongwanji, His Eminence Koshin Ohtani, the 24th successor of Shinran
Shonin and also the one who ordained me. In the passages you can read by yourself that birth in the Pure Land is
to be understood as taking place after death, in perfect agrement with the
sacred texts of our tradition:

NEW! THE MEANING OF FAITH AND NEMBUTSU IN JODO SHINSHU BUDDHISM

NEW! THE FOUR PROFOUND THOUGHTS WHICH TURN THE MIND TOWARDS AMIDA DHARMA

free online edition

THE TRUE TEACHING ON AMIDA BUDDHA AND HIS PURE LAND

free online edition

JODO SHINSHU BUDDHIST TEACHINGS

free online edition

PATH OF ACCEPTANCE - COMMENTARY ON TANNISHO

free online edition

THE 48 VOWS OF AMIDA BUDDHA

free online edition

A Standard of Shinshu Faith (complete free online edition)

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NOTE:

The editorial policy of this website is to present only the orthodox teachings of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism. Before I link to any other website, I investigate that website to make sure that they share the same attitude. I reject any website that presents false or divergent teachings, or that links to other websites that present false or divergent teachings.